Quick-draw holster



Feb. 7, 1961 Filed Jan. 15, 1959 E. H. BOHLIN QUICK-DRAW HOLSTER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. EDWARD H. BOHLIN BYWWVkA'W ATTORNEYS Feb. 7, 1961 E. H. BOHLIN QUICK-DRAW HOLSTER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 13, 1959 mum! INVENTOR.

EDWARD H. BOHLIH BY ATTODNEYS QUICK-DRAW HOLSTER Edward H. Bohlin, 602 S. Lucerne Blvd, Los Angeles, Calif.

Filed Jan. 13, 1959, Ser. No. 786,472 3 Claims. (Cl. 224-2 This invention has to do with holsters for pistols and revolvers.

' Since the early frontier days, there has been a great demand for holsters for side arms from which the weapon can be quickly drawn and fired, and many different holsters have been designed for this purpose, particularly for revolvers. In the use of the single-action type of revolver it is necessary to pull back and cock the hammer to ready the weapon for firing, and in making a quick draw, the user simultaneously draws back the hammer as he withdraws the weapon from the holster and raises it.

Conventional holsters of the quick-draw type are so constructed that the gun is carried relatively close to the wearers side some distance below the gun belt, the shank portion of the holster extending upwardly above the pocket of the holster to the gun belt. The position of the gun is such that it is difficult to rapidly grasp and draw the weapon without interference from the holster, particularly the shank portion. Thus there is the danger of the possibility of the users thumb grazing the forward edge of the holster shank and being deflected from the hammer of the gun in the act of drawing back the hammer as the gun is drawn from the holster with the consequent release of the hammer and likelihood of premature firing of the weapon. There is also the possibility of the users fingers catching upon the rear edge of the 2,970,727 Patented Feb. 7, 1961 Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but partially broken away, of the holster alone;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the holster and revolver of Fig. l, with the gun belt in section;

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of the inner side of the holster alone, partially broken away;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 6-6 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on line 7-7 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 8 is a pattern layout view of the body of the holster on a smaller scale.

More particularly describing theinvention, numeral 11 designates a gun belt which is customarily worn low around the hips. Suspended from this at the low side thereof is a holster 12 which embodies the invention. In certain of the views a revolver handle 14 is shown projecting obliquely rearwardly from the open outwardly inclined pocket of the holster.

The holster 12 is preferably made of leather and comprises generally a pocket portion 16 and a contiguous flap portion 17. These two portions are connected by a short web or intermediate portion 18 which forms a return bend therebetween. The portion 18 of the belt passes through a slot 19 in belt 11 when the holster is suspended from the belt.

The holster is preferably (not necessarily) formed of two layers or plies 20 and 21 of leather which are sewn together along their margins as by the stitching 22. The pocket portion 16 of the holster is formed by a curved inner wall section 24 and a curved outer wall section 25, the two merging in a curved forward wall section 26. The outer wall section 25 terminates in a fiat rear mar ginal portion 28 which overlies section 24 and is stitched thereto in the region 29. This construction provides a gun-receiving space 30 which tapers from top to bottom;

' being largest at the top. The upper edge of the forward holster shank as the gun is drawn, to interfere with a I rapid, sure draw.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a novel and improved holster which does not have the above-noted disadvantages of conventional quick-draw holsters. More particularly it is an object to provide a novel holster for revolvers adapted to be worn low at the side adjacent the leg and so constructed as to enable the wearerto readily simultaneously quickly draw, cock and fire the weapon without the danger of interference from the .holster, gun belt, or wearers clothing.

A further object of the invention is to provide a holster adapted to hold the weapon in a position such that it can be readily withdrawn and the hammer thereof drawn back by the thumb of the user without likelihood of the thumb grazing or catching upon the holster and being accidentally dislodged from the hammer.

It is a furter object to provide a holster which supports the gun in a manner such that the users fingers cannot catch upon any portion of the holster in the act of drawing, and in this connection it is an object to provide a holster in which the revolver is held with the butt extending angularly outwardly of the wearer.

Still another object is to provide a holster embodying a novel, simplified construction.

These and other objects will be apparent from the drawings and the following description. Referring to the drawings, which are for illustrative purposes only:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the outer side of a holster embodying the invention suspended from a gun belt and with a revolver shown therein;

wall section 26 of the pocket portion is relatively high in the region 31 while the upper edge of the outer wall section 25 is somewhat lower in the region 32 at the rear of the holster in order to accommodate a revolver by supporting the trigger guard above the gun-receiving space.

The pocket portion is detachably secured to the flap portion 17 by strap 34 which passes around the pocket portion, through a slot 35 therein and through slots 36 in the inner ply of the flap portion. Also, holes 38 and 39 are provided at the bottom of the pocket and flap portions, respectively, to receive a thong 40 which can be used to secure the lower end of the holster to the leg of the wearer.

As stated in the preamble the purpose of the instant invention is to overcome certain problems found to exist in the construction of revolver holsters whereby through this invention the revolver will automatically be supported and positioned by the holster and its receiving pocket to first, angle the revolver handle obliquely outwardly with respect to the usual longitudinally stitched rear edge of the holster pocket and thus facilitate quickness and ease in grasping the revolver handle; and secondly to provide an abutment means on the holster which will automatically cooperate with a supporting belt to incline the open upper end of the holster pocket outwardly of the supporting belt. Thus through these com bined features of construction to greatly improve and facilitate the use of a revolver holster for making quick draws so essential to such devices. I will therefore explain these new features of construction as they combine with those of the usual holster structure to accomplish the improved results.

A chief feature of the holster is the provision of a laterally convex and longitudinally elongated shoulder or rib member 42 which projects into the pocket from the stitched edge portions 28 and 29 and from the adjacent inner wall portion'24. In the instant case where the holster pocket is as shown constructed of two overlying plies 20 and 21 the rib member 42 may be produced at the rear margin of the stitched connection and from the adjacent inner wall portion 24 by including any suitable number of elongated inserts or filler strips 43 between the inner and outer plies 2i) and 21 of the inner wall of the pocket portion of the holster, as best shown in Figs. and 6. Preferably these inserts are made of leather and are shown so formed as to cause the inner ply in the region thereof to protrude convexly into the pocket area of the revolver-receiving space. Thus when a revolver is inserted in the holster it assumes the position in which it is best illustrated in Fig. 3, since the portion of the gun immediately forward of the trigger guard can only be accommodated outward y of the rib or ridge 42. From Fig. 3 it will be apparent that the gun is angularly carried so that a plane passing through the butt of the gun and the gun barrel is inclined outwardly and rearwardly of the side of the wearer of the holster.

Another feature of my invention is the provision of means for causing the holster pocket portion to be inclined outwardly of the wearer in an upward direction as indicated in Fig. 3 by the broken line 44 on the axis of the gun-receiving space 30. I accomplish this by providing a spacing abutment portion 45 across the upper portion of the pocket portion. This may be a relatively thick strap-like section of leather tapered at its ends and attached by stitching 46. When the holster is supended, the abutment portion 45 lies between the belt 11 and the upper part of the pocket portion of the holster, causing the holster pocket, and hence a gun therein, to be inclined upwardly outwardly of the wearer. It will be obvious that with the construction shown and described the gun may be readily and quickly grasped and drawn from the holster without likelihood of danger of the persons hand or thumb catching upon any part of the holster or gun belt in a manner which would interfere with either grasping, drawing or cocking the weapon.

For the purpose of releasably retaining the weapon in the holster at such time as there is no likelihood of the necessity for the quick withdrawal of the weapon from the holster, I provide a strap 50 which is attached to the pocket of the holster by being threaded through two holes 51 therein. The strap is provided with a slot 53 to receive the hammer of the gun. A spring 54 is provided between the points 55 and 56 of the strap, with the strap normally being slack therebetween, so as to place a resilient downward holding force on the gun when the strap is attached thereto. n

Although I have illustrated and described a preferred form of my invention, I contemplate that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the invention, the scope of which is indicated by the following claims.

1 claim:

1. In a revolver holster comprising a strip of material folded longitudinally upon itself to provide a forwardly curved edge portion, a curved inner wall portion and an oppositely curved outer wall portion, each said curved wall portion terminating in a fiat rear longitudinal edge portion stitched together in opposed relation and providing between said curved wall portions an open ended pocket, and one end of said inner wall portion having a longitudinally and rearwardly extending flap adapted to be attached at its free end to the opposite end of said inner wall portion and providing therebetween a return bend for the reception of a supporting belt; the improvement comprising a longitudinally elongated and transversely convex rib. member projecting obliquely into said pocket from said stitched edge portions and from the adjacent inner wall portion thereof, and said curved inner wall comprising two-plies with said rib member disposed between the plies thereof, whereby a revolver inserted into said open ended pocket of said holster will engage said transversely curved rib immediately forwardly of the trigger guard of the revolver at one side thereof and angularly position ng and supporting same obliquely within said pocket, facilitating quick draw of the revolver;

2. In a revolver holster comprising a strip of material folded longitudinally upon itself to provide a forwardly curved forward edge portion, a curved inner wall portion and an oppositely curved outer Wall portion, each said curved wall portion terminating in a fiat rear longitudinal edge portion stitched together in opposed relation and providing between said curved wall portions an open ended pocket, and one end of said inner wall portion having a longitudinally and rearwardly extending flap adapted to be attached at its free end to the opposite end of said inner wall portion and providing therebetween a return bend for the reception of a supporting belt; the improvement comprising a longitudinally elongated and transversely convex rib member projecting obliquely into said pocket from said stitched edge portions and from the adjacent inner wall portion thereof, and a spacing abutment member extending laterally from said inner Wall portion toward said flap in the return bend thereof engaging said supporting belt and inclining the open upper end of said holster pocket outwardly of said supporting belt, whereby a revolver inserted into said open ended pocket of said holster will engage said transversely curved rib immediately forwardly of the trigger guard of the revolver at one side thereof and angularly positioning and supporting same obliquely within said pocket, facilitating quick draw of the revolver.

3. A revolver holster as recited in claim 2 in which said curved inner and outer wall portions ofsaid holster pocket are each of two-ply construction with said rib member disposed between the plies of said curved inner wall portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 837,156 Townsend Nov. 27, 1906 1,110,993 Sisson Sept. 15, 1914 1,230,043 Shelton June 12, 1917 2,832,519 Ojala Apr. 29, 1958 

